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AT&T--the American company which owns TV hits like Game of Thrones and Sex in the City--is setting up a new video streaming service with Discovery to compete in an increasingly crowded media marketplace. Pictured: Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke in Game of Thrones. Photo credit: HBO publicity still 

AT&T and Discovery to start streaming rival

Telecom giant AT&T will spin off its WarnerMedia unit (which includes CNN and HBO) and following a merger with Discovery Inc (which own Discovery Channel and Eurosport) launch a streaming video service to compete with the likes of Apple, Disney and Netflix. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, and NPR and Variety.

Amazon in talks to acquire MGM

Amazon is reportedly in advanced negotiations to buy MGM, the film studio that owns the James Bond and The Handmaid’s Tale franchises, for $9bn to merge with its video streaming service. Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times, The Information and Variety.

Parent companies to combine M6 & TF1

RTL Group announced plans to merge its M6 unit, France’s second largest broadcaster, with Bouygues’s TF1, the biggest French TV group. The companies both have stakes in the Salto streaming service. Sources: Financial Times, Reuters and Variety.

Biden backs ceasefire

US president Joe Biden told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that Washington supported a ceasefire that several European and middle eastern countries are trying to broker. Israel and Hamas have been exchanging rocket fire for more than a week. Sources: BBC, CNBC, Financial Times and NPR.

Antisemitism at anti-Israel demonstrations in Germany

German politicians have condemned antisemitic hate speech and vandalism, and German police have called for increased monitoring, following pro-Palestinian protests that turned violent. Sources: DW, The Guardian, Irish Times and Politico.

Record number of migrants arrive in Spanish territory

More than 5,000 migrants reached the Spanish enclave of Ceuta from Morocco on Monday. Sources: AFP, BBC, DW and The Guardian.

Early data on jabs show promising protection against India strain

Preliminary tests indicate the Moderna and Pfizer/Biontech vaccines are effective against the Indian covid-19 variant (although the study has not yet been peer reviewed). Sources: ANI, AFP, CNN and Nature.

Vaccine shows positive early results

GSK and Sanofi said their covid vaccine candidate demonstrated a “strong neutralising antibody response” and was safe during preliminary trials, meaning it would proceed to larger scale phase 3 testing. Sources: AFP, Financial Times, The Guardian and New York Times.

Latest Luxembourg covid-19 update

Out of 609 PCR tests conducted on 16 May, 37 Luxembourg residents were positive for covid-19. That is a rate of 5.83 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants (compared to 3.47 on 9 May). The reproduction rate was 0.85, below the target threshold of 1.00 (compared to 0.94). There were 68 covid-19 patients in hospital (compared to 84), including 28 in intensive care (compared to 31). Two people died due to the coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the national total to 808. A cumulative 284,913 vaccine doses have been administered, including 93,210 people who have received both required jabs or a single-dose jab. Source: health ministry. More: Delano.

WHO: long working hours killing 745,000 people a year

A study by the World Health Organization and International Labour Organization found that overwork was responsible for the premature deaths of thousands of people due to stress-linked stroke and heart disease. Sources: BBC, CNBC, NPR and RTE.

Collective work agreement for Luxembourg cleaners

Following months of negotiations, bosses and labour unions have inked a deal that will give cleaning sector staff better pay and more paid leave. Sources: Delano and Paperjam.

Ryanair reports record loss

The budget carrier Ryanair posted a net annual loss of €815m and said it hoped to break even again by the end of the current financial year. Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, The Guardian and RTE.

Danone appoints new boss to lead turnaround

The French food group Danone named Antoine de Saint-Affrique, who currently leads the Swiss chocolate group Barry Callebaut, as its new CEO. Sources: AFP, Financial Times and Reuters.

Brussels & Washington declare metals truce & start talks

EU and US trade negotiators agreed to temporarily suspend a planned increase in retaliatory tariffs on steel and aluminum products, and said they would seek to resolve the dispute by the end of the year. The tariffs were initially introduced by the Trump administration. Sources: Bloomberg, Financial Times, CNBC and Seeking Alpha.

Fake Musk scam costing millions

Fraudsters impersonating Elon Musk have conned more than $2m out of cryptocurrency investors. Sources: CNBC, Financial Times, Reuters and The Verge.

Gates denies link between affair & board investigation

Bill Gates admitted having an extramarital affair with a Microsoft employee, but said that was not why he left the company’s board. Sources: BBC, CNN, Financial Times and Washington Post.

Top court to rule on Mississippi abortion law

The US Supreme Court will hear a case challenging Roe v Wade, its 1973 decision that made abortion legal in the US during the first six months of pregnancy. Sources: AFP, BBC, DW and NPR.

Evans to defend Trump in attorney fee fight

Lawyer and former US ambassador to Luxembourg Randy Evans will represent ex-US president Donald Trump in proceedings arguing that Trump misused court time with unfounded allegations of election fraud. Local election officials in the US state of Georgia want to be reimbursed for legal fees. A rep for Georgia’s top election official stated: “Taxpayer money should not be wasted on frivolous election lawsuits brought by anyone.” Evans told Law.com: “We’re not going to relitigate the election,” but that Trump’s filings do not fit the legal definition of frivolous. Sources: Law.com and Law360.com.

“Forever Marilyn” statue to be sited in southern California

An 8m sculpture of Marilyn Monroe, seen in her iconic The Seven Year Itch subway grate pose, will be permanently displayed in Palm Springs, despite criticism that it is “blatantly sexist” and encourages upskirting. Source: NPR.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Aaron Grunwald